Athnuaite
by Alessa Mason
Summary: Thanks to a young girl and her father, Iris has been brought back to life. There's only one problem. She doesn't have her memories.
1. Chapter 1

Alex Heap shivered lightly at the cool October air. The chill autumn air had already begun to take the place of summer, but Alex didn't care. Today was a special day. It was her birthday. As of today, she was officially ten years old. Finally, she was in the double digits. Nobody could say she was 'just a little girl'. Oh no, she was far too old to allow such talk. And as such, she felt she was entitled to a special gift this year.

However, convincing her father of it proved to be quite a difficult task.

"Please dad!" The green eyed girl pleaded. "I'll be careful, I swear!"

"Alex…" Justin Heap sighed. His young daughter could be so persistent sometimes. "Your condition-"

"I've felt fine all week, honest!" She quickly interrupted. "If I felt bad, I'd tell you."

"I know. It's just you never know when the symptoms will come up."

"Yeah, but…" Alex chewed on her lower lip lightly. Her father had a valid point, and if she didn't come up with something soon, he would win, and she couldn't let her condition get in the way on this special day. "You'll be with me the whole time." She quickly added with a grin. She had him there.

"You really want to go that badly? It's really boring." Justin said in an attempt to talk his daughter out of it, but she only nodded. "Alright. You can come to the junkyard with me, but stay where I can see you."

Alex clapped her hands together in delight. This was going to be an amazing birthday.

Ever since Alex could remember, her father made trips to the junkyard. He would bring home all sorts of things- scrap metal, old electronics, and on a rare occasion parts from broken down Reploids. When Alex had been younger, she had thought of these things as treasures, but now she saw them as things she could tinker with. Before she was born, Justin had been a brilliant mechanic. He was supposed to go to school for an engineering degree, but he never finished. Why was still a mystery to her, but that wasn't important now. The birthday trip was the only thing on her ten year old mind.

The junkyard was a place she had heard of, but was never allowed to go. Her father would say things like "You're too young." or "You're symptoms have popped up again, you have to stay home." But not today. This was _her_ day. She would find something on her own, and… do something with it. It all depended on what she found. Maybe she would find an old radio, or a broken down motorbike. As long as it was something, she would be happy.

Justin's old blue truck pulled into the parking lot, and the two emerged from the vehicle. He always brought the truck when he made trips to the junkyard. The space was needed for the items he retrieved. "We leave before dusk, Alex." He said in a firm voice. "And remember to stay where I can see you. This place can be dangerous if you're not careful."

"I know, I heard you the first five times." She grinned. Without any delays, the father daughter duo headed into the junkyard. Piles of forgotten technology laid scattered about. Alex felt her jaw drop ever so slightly. She hadn't imagined the piles would be so big. It seemed she had a lot of ground to cover. The young girl headed to the nearest pile, and began to carefully search it.

Two hours came an gone quickly, and Alex felt the sinking feeling of disappointment begin to settle in. She hadn't found a thing that caught her eye. Well, she found a few things she liked, but nothing she could repair. The whole point of this trip was to not only see the mysterious junkyard for her own two eyes, but to find something to restore, just like her father. Everything she knew about technology came from him. It was on of the only activities she could do, as it didn't cause too much strain on her body. She wanted to show him just how good she was at it, and maybe he would teach her more.

But she couldn't do that without _something_! A sigh escaped the ten year old. So far, this was not how she had imagined this trip. At this rate, it would be dusk before she knew it. The sun had already begun to set.

I was then that something caught her eye. A white shape was lodged in a pile next to the one she was currently searching. So far, all of the things Alex had seen were darkly colored. The white shape stuck out like a sore thumb. Naturally, this attracted her attention. She made her way over to the pile, and carefully pulled away the things surrounding it. Now she had a clear view as to what the white shape was. It was something she hadn't expected.

"A hand?" She muttered to herself. It was a small, feminine looking hand. It had to have once belonged to a Reploid, no doubt about it. Maybe it was outdated, or something happed for the owner to discard it. Either way, it was fair game now. Without hesitation, the young girl reached out to grab the hand, and pulled. It hardly budged, but now she could she that a wrist was attached to the hand. Alex blinked. Was there a whole arm attached? The possibility only made Alex pull harder. Now she just had to see what this was. She gave three much harder yanks in an attempt to free the arm. However, she failed to notice how her actions effected the stability of the pile. She didn't notice until it began to collapse.

"Alex!" Justin's voice broke through the air. Before the pile could crush his daughter, he knocked her out of the way. The both of them landed right beside the fallen pile. "Are you alright?" He asked her in a concern voice. Once she gave a quick nod, his concern turned to anger. "What were you thinking? I told you to be careful! You could have been crushed!"

"Sorry dad…" Alex grasped her light brown hair nervously.

"Come on. Were leaving." Justin said firmly as he pulled both of them up.

"What? No!" She cried out in protest.

"Now young lady!" He grasped her wrist, and began to pull her away. Alex glanced back to the pile in an attempt to see the arm, but instead she saw much more.

"Wait!" She pulled her wrist free, and bolted over to the pile. Her father called after her, but she didn't care. "I found something." Justin reached his daughter, ready to pull her back to the truck, but what he saw caused him to stop in his tracks.

A Reploid. Not once had he found a whole Reploid.

Alex carefully pushed off anything that covered the Reploid. It was a female with long burnet hair, and fair skin. She might have been considered a pretty one, but not now. Her body was heavily damaged, and judging by the dust that had gathered on her, what ever happened to her happened quite a long time ago. Justin looked over to his daughter, and immediately recognized that spark in her eyes.

"Alex, she's probably too far damaged to be-"

"I can fix her." She quickly cut him off. "Anyone can be fixed, right?" Alex looked over to her father with determination in her green eyes. He had seen that look many times, for she was a very stubborn girl, but there was something different. This was more personal.

_ Anyone can be fixed. _

Maybe even herself someday.

"Alright." Justin moved over to the Reploid, and scooped her off the ground. Alex beamed. "But you're still grounded."


	2. Chapter 2

Justin hadn't been kidding when he said it would be difficult to repair the female Reploid. Her damage was much more severe than Alex had imagined. Not only was the body in bad shape, her mind was practically destroyed. After her punishment was over, she had begun to work on the Reploid.

Finding parts for the body was the easy part. Such parts weren't in short supply, however, paying for them was always difficult. Alex did as many odd jobs as her father, and health, would allow. If she could, she would attempt to repair as much of the original body as possible, as it was much more cost effective to do so. With her father's help, she had managed to salvage most the Reploid's arm and leg parts, but she still had to pay for new torso parts.

Her mind, on the other hand, was much harder to repair. Everything needed replacing. Starting from scratch with a mind was a very tricky thing. Without her father, Alex wouldn't have had a chance. The mind of a Reploid was a very complicated thing, after all. As if that weren't bad enough, finding new chips was such a hassle. The chips were more expensive than Alex could have ever imagined. They were twice as expensive as body parts, and she always had to the doge questions of the clerks she bought them from. Building Reploids in private was frowned upon, and the last thing she wanted was to get in trouble with the law. Thankfully, they let her go after a few questions.

Whenever she got a free moment, Alex worked on repairing the Reploid. Due to her condition, she was home schooled, so schooling didn't get in the way. It was, more often than not, her illness that got in the way. Alex had a blood disease. She had inherited it from her mother. Every now and then, she had to go to the hospital for blood transfusions, or to refill a prescription. It was always a hassle, but it had to be taken care off. So far, the disease had yet to reach a severe point, but it still loomed over her life like a dark shadow, ready to consume her at any moment.

Despite all of these obstacles, Alex kept working. Once she had her mind set on something, there was no changing it. She wanted to fix this Reploid to prove that anything that broken could be repaired. The thought gave her an odd sense of hope, so she persisted.

Once again, it was Alex's birthday. Four long years had passed since her first trip to the junkyard. Alex was now a young teenage girl, and just like all those years ago, she felt like this would be a special birthday. As of today, she was finally finished with the repairs. The Reploid was fixed. She could jump up in down in excitement, if she was still ten years old. Instead, Alex settled on a grin.

She gave the clock a quick glance. Five twenty five. Justin was usually home by five thirty. Her father had insisted that he be there when the Reploid was activated. Alex had waited for four years, she decided that she could wait five more minutes.

Too bad these last few minutes had to go by so slowly. The fourteen year old paced the small room, giving the Reploid a few glances every now and then, and ran her fingers through her now short hair. It had seemed like a good idea to cut he hair shorter, but now she missed it's old length, as she now had nothing to grasp when she was nervous or excited.

What was the Reploid going to be like? The only chips that she and Justin had attempted to save were her memory and personality chips. The information on personality chips were mostly saved and downloaded to new chips, while on the other had, the memory chips were junk. Justin said he would try to save them, but he had yet to get back to his daughter on it.

Finally, a familiar voice filled the silent void. "I'm home! Alex, you there?"

"In here, dad!" She called back. Once her father had entered the room, she asked him the question that had been on her mind for a while now. "Did you recover anything from the chips?

"Only one thing, but I don't think it's something we have to download in her current chip. We'll just tell her when she wakes up. Is she charged up?" Alex gave her father a nod. "Well, let's wake her up." He said with a grin of his own. Justin had been involved in the repairing the Reploid as well, and while he didn't show it was much as his daughter, he looked forward to this too.

It had been four years, it was time for her to wake up.

The first thing she was aware of was the bright, fluorescent light of the room. It was painful to look at. She had to blink her eyes several times to get used to it. The next thing she noticed was the surface she laid on. It was a cold work bench. It was an unpleasant thing to be resting on. Where was she? Was she dreaming? She wiggled her fingers to test them out. This all felt very real.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

A young girl's voice.

"Give her a moment."

A man's voice.

She looked over to her left. Two figures stood at her side. The girl's green eyes watched her with excitement, while the man's dark brown eyes observed her calmly. They both had the same light brown hair.

"…Who are you?" She managed to speak. Her voice felt so weak and unused.

"I'm Alex Heap." The girl smiled. "And this is my dad." She gestured to the older man who stood next to her.

"You can just call me Justin." The man said in a calm manner.

She repeated their names in her mind. She had a feeling that she ought to remember those names. "Do… do you know what my name is?"

"In fact, I do know your name." The girl next to him, Alex, looked at him with mild surprise. "Your name is Iris."

Iris. Her name was Iris.

"I like it." She smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Life after Iris's activation was, well, interesting. The female Reploid had no knowledge of anything. She couldn't operate a computer, or even a toaster. The task of teaching her how the world worked would have fallen on Justin's shoulder, if he were free to. Work kept him away from home most days. So, it was Alex's job to teach Iris.

It was during one of those lessons that the house nearly burned down to the ground.

"Today were going to learn how to make soup!" Alex announced to her pupil with a grin on her face.

"Soup?" Iris blinked in return, and tilted her head to the side ever so slightly. Her blue green eyes glinted with both confusion and curiosity. "But, I'm a Reploid. I don't need to eat."

"True, but that doesn't mean you can't learn how to cook a few things. Come on, it's not that hard." Alex's grin never faltered. "All you have to do is open up the can, put the stuff in a pan, and heat it up." She said with an encouraging voice, and made her way to the cabinet.

It was in these moments that Iris had to wonder how Alex managed to stay so energetic. She was well aware of the girl's condition. By all means, she should spend most of the day bed ridden and resting, yet here she was up and about. Of course, when ever Iris voiced her concerns Alex just brushed them off while saying something like 'You worry too much'. Whether the green eyed girl was a fighter, or just plain stubborn was still something she had to decide on.

"Ah-a! There you are!" Alex fished out a can of soup, and held it out to Iris. "We'll make this one."

Iris took the can, and studied the item. The bold print on the font read 'Broccoli Cheese Soup', while the back had a label listing the ingredients. Words like 'calories' or 'carbohydrates' held no meaning to the Reploid. "What do these mean?" She asked while she held out the can, and pointed to the label.

"Beats me." Alex gave a shrug. "Nobody pays attention to those things anyways."

"Really? Don't people find it important to know what they put in their bodies?" Iris asked, astonished.

"Nope! It's not like they put rat poison in it or something." Alex said with a small giggle. Iris, however, looked like she paled a little. The burnet now looked over the ingredients a second time to check for any such poisons. At this, Alex blinked. "Hey, relax. It was just a joke." Sometimes Iris tended to take things far too seriously. It was a cute trait, but at the same time it could be a little frustrating. Alex thought it had something to do with how little she really knew about the world, or maybe it was just personality.

"Oh…" Iris blinked as her checks turned a light shade of pink from embarrassment. Sometimes the Reploid really was just too cute.

"Anyways, back to cooking." Alex grinned again, and once again the two were back on topic. The task was such a simple one. First, they opened the can, and emptied the contents into the pan. Next, the needed milk to thin it out. Iris was the one fill the can, but she spilled some of the milk. Alex mopped it up with a rag while the other girl poured the milk into the pan, and mixed the ingredients together. Soon the burner was on, and the soup was cooking.

"It should only take a few minutes to cook, but there isn't much more we need to do to make it. So, we can do something else while we wait."

"Like what?"

"Not sure. Is there anything you want to do?"

"Well… I did find this photo earlier, but I don't know what it is."

"Say no more!" Without a warning, Alex tugged Iris out of the room to see what this mysterious photo was.

However, she neglected to notice how dangerously close the rag she had used earlier was to the lit burner.

"Here it is." Iris held up the photo. "What is it?"

The image wasn't a photo at all. In fact, it was an advertisement. A Wood rollercoaster and a carousel were featured along with stands with various games. Young children with balloons and their parents wore a happy face. They all seemed to be quite joyful. There were words written at the top, or rather there had once been words written on the top. The ink had faded away, but Alex didn't need to read the words to know what the place was. "It's an amusement park."

"What's an amusement park?"

"It's a place where people go have fun."

"Oh. Have you ever been to one?"

"No. Dad says I can't." Alex said with a light shake of her head. A frustrated frown had replaced the usual grin.

Iris understood why Justin was so cautious when it came to his daughter's well being, but at the same time she could see how difficult it must be for Alex to be denied the freedom healthy children enjoyed. She herself was cooped up in this house, but rather than for health reasons, it was due to her lack of knowledge of the world. If she were to leave the Heap residence right now, she would no doubly be taken advantage of by less than kind denizens. Yet she found herself so very curious about the world around her. She wanted to explore, but she had to stay inside. This was only temporary, but for the human girl, it was life long.

"…Hey Iris, when I get better, we should go to one." She gestured to the add.

Iris blinked at the girl. While she didn't know the exact details of the blood disease, she had already guessed there was little to no chance that there was a cure. Still, there was a glint of hope in Alex's eyes. She wanted to get well so badly. Maybe she would someday. "Alright."

"Not good enough. You have to pinky swear." Alex now held up her hand to the confused Reploid.

"Pinky swear?"

"It's an unbreakable promise. If you pinky swear, then you can't back out."

Iris pondered this for a moment, then smiled. "I swear." She held out her hand in a similar manner, wrapped her pinky finger around the other girl's, and shook.

Alex's grin had returned. "We should probably go check up on th-" She stopped mid sentence. "Hey, do you smell that?"

"Mhm, but what is it?"

Alex took in a few more sniffs of air. "Funny, it almost smells like…" She trailed off as her face paled. She suddenly remembered the rag she had used to clean up the milk spill. She had left it quite close to the burner without even thinking. "Oh _crap_."

"What is it?" Iris asked with a now concerned voice. Alex didn't bother to answer, but instead bolted into a now smoke filled kitchen. "Alex? Wait!" Iris followed after her.

By the time the two had reached the kitchen, the rag had already been consumed by fire. The flames already spread to the counter, and were dangerously close to reaching the wall. If the wall caught fire, it would only be a matter of time before the whole kitchen caught ablaze, and possibly the rest of the house.

Oh crap indeed.

"What should we do?" Iris asked Alex with wide eyes. She was sure this wasn't supposed to be apart of the lesson.

"We need water, and lots of it!"

Iris didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed the closest cup, filled it with water from the sink, and threw it on the flames. Alex followed suit. The two threw water on the fire for what seemed to take ages. Finally, the flames began to die until all that was left was a hideous burn mark and the stench of smoke. Alex only stared at it.

"Dad is going to kill me." She muttered.

"What?" Iris looked to the girl with shock in her eyes. Sure, this did warrant discipline, but kill? That was far too extreme. Normally, Alex would have told Iris that she hadn't meant it literally, but she didn't have the chance.

"I'm home! Alex, Iris?" Justin said shortly after he opened the front door. If there was a chance for the two to cover up the accident, it went down the tube the moment he arrived home. "Wait, is that smoke?" They couldn't even do anything about the smell.

It didn't take him long to reach the kitchen. There he found the two girls, and a large burn mark on the counter. "What happened?" He questioned in a stern voice.

Alex felt her throat become dry. He was furious. "Well… I was trying to teach Iris how to cook, but I left I a rag close by the bur-"

"It's not just her fault!" Iris suddenly interjected. "If I hadn't spilled the milk, she wouldn't have needed the wash cloth in the first place! So please don't kill Alex!" The burnet girl pleaded.

Her outburst only earned stares of shock and confusion from the two humans.

"What? I'm not going to kill her!"

"You're not?" Iris blinked.

"Of course I'm not! What gave you that idea?"

"Alex said you were going to kill her when you got home."

"I didn't mean it literally."

"Oh." Despite the mistake, Iris felt relived. She didn't want the other girl to die at the hands of her father.

"But, I'm still going to punish both of you." Justin said with his arms crossed.

The punishment wasn't too bad. At least, that's what Iris thought. Justin said they had to clean up the mess all on their own. He wanted it to look as though the incident had never happened. That meant they had to clean up all of the ashes, and repaint the counter. A punishment that suited the crime.

The two now worked to get the ashes off the counter and into the trash can. The ashes proved to be stubborn stuff. It got all over their clothes and fingers. Alex had a streak of black that ran down her nose from where she had scratched it, and Iris had a mark from her unsuccessful attempt at brushing her bangs out of her face.

"By the way, thanks." Alex said out of the blue.

"For what?"

"For standing up for me."

"But, he wouldn't have hurt you anyways."

"I know. It's the principle that counts. You put you're head on the chopping block for my sake when you didn't have to. I owe you big time. If you didn't speak up, I'd probably have to clean this by myself."

Iris smiled. "Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for."

Friends. Alex smiled at that word. She never had the chance to make a friend before.

"I know."


	4. Chapter 4

The Heap home was a rather small residence. The home consisted of the ground floor, and the basement. On the ground floor was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and two bedrooms. The basement was where Justin kept all of his mechanical tools, along with the workbench that Iris had stayed for the past four years. Naturally, she couldn't stay in the basement anymore. She needed a new place to stay.

That place ended up being Alex's room. Unlike her human friend, Iris couldn't sleep in a bed. So, Justin constructed her a pod to sleep in out of some scraps he had in the basement. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but Iris didn't mind. It was nice to know that he cared enough to make it for her.

As for her roommate… Alex was her friend, but there was one little thing that bugged her. Alex was a pack rat. Her side of the room was completely cluttered, while everything on Iris's side was neatly put away. If someone were to draw a chalk line in the middle of the room, there would be a perfect line to divide their sides of the room based off the mess. Iris guessed it must have been a habit she picked up from her father, because it wasn't just Alex's room. The house on a whole suffered from too much clutter. Just about every corner was filled with broken items salvaged from the junkyard.

During the first few months of her life with them, the problem never cleared up on it's own. So, Iris decided to take matters into her own hands.

"Don't you think we ought to do something about this mess?" Iris questioned, and gestured to their shared room.

Alex, who had been tinkering with an old radio on her bed, looked up from her project, and blinked. "What mess?"

"You're side of the room. It's a disaster!"

"It's an organized mess. I know where everything is."

"Really?" Iris raised a skeptical brow. "If that's true, then where is that old microwave you were working on last week?"

"It's… uh… it _was_ on the desk."

"But you moved it after you started working on that radio."

"Come on, it's around here somewhere, I know it is!"

What followed was at least a half an hour or unsuccessful searching. Alex tore through the clutter in vein. No matter where she looked, she just couldn't find the microwave. How did something _that _big end up missing? It was the doing of nasty machine loving fairies, Alex decided.

"Maybe if you organized things better, you would be able to find it." Iris finally spoke up. She had watched her friend from her side of the room. Perhaps Alex would be willing to listen now. The human girl could be so stubborn sometimes.

"Fine." Alex sighed in defeat. "But I don't have to like it."

Iris smiled. "Let's get started, then."

…..

Digging through the mounds of Alex's belongings proved to be tedious work, but Iris wasn't alone in the task. The human girl sat next to her as they both attempted to organize things. At first, Iris thought it was just going to be some old mechanical tools, but it wasn't just old technology that littered the room. Iris came across t-shirts, jeans, and an old pair of socks. "You ought to use your closet for your clothes." Said the Reploid as she pulled out yet another article of clothing.

"Can't. It's full of old TVs." Alex smirked.

For a moment, Iris thought she was serious, but she had seen that look on her friend's face before. The Reploid wasn't as naive as she once had been. "Very funny, now put them away." She smiled as she pushed the clothing into her hands.

"Nag nag nag nag." She let out a sigh, and rose up to her feet to put her various clothes away.

Iris continued her attack on the clutter when something suddenly caught her eye. It was a thin, brown box. Curious, she reached out to snatch up the box, and opened it. Inside were spots of grease, and dried up old cheese. "_W… what?" _She blinked. Out of all the things she imagined finding, the last thing on her mind was an old pizza box. And it wasn't just a pizza box either, there was a rotten apple core, and a moldy half eaten sandwich. "Alex, why is there old food in here?" She questioned as she stared at the fuzzy bread.

"Hm?" Alex walked back over to her friend, and looked at the same sandwich. "Oh! I completely forgot about that! Sometimes I get too carried away when I'm working, and I just forget I was eating something. I usually don't remember till it starts to stink." She grinned.

"Ew! That's disgusting!" Iris shrieked in reply. Judging by how moldy the sandwich was, it had been in their room for at least a week. Now that was just gross.

"Oh, is _that_ what you think?" A mischievous grin spread across Alex's features. Never a good sign. She suddenly snatched up the fuzzy green sandwich, and held it in front of her. "Well, this sandwich just loves you, Iris! But you had to hurt it's feelings, kiss and make up!"

"Eek! No!" Iris leapt up to her feet to escape the moldy thing. She darted to the other side of the room. "Just throw it away!" She pleaded to her friend, but it was all in vein. Alex crackled wickedly, and gave chase. Iris ran out of the room with her friend, and the old sandwich, hot on her heels.

It took a plunger, some old towels, and a glass of water for the pursuit to finally end, and for the two to finally get back to work.

…..

"There. Much better." Iris let out a breath. Now both sides of the room were clean.

"You know, it's probably not going to look like that next week." Alex said while sprawled on her now sheet less bed. When Iris found out the sheets hadn't been washed in a year, she ripped them off the bed, and dragged them to the laundry room.

"Well… just don't leave food in here anymore, and I'll be happy."

"Sure thing." Alex pushed herself up. "Speaking of food, I'm starving." She headed off to the kitchen, and Iris began to follow.

The Reploid instead stopped in the middle of the living room. This room was, if not more, cluttered than Alex's side of the room had once been. She frowned a bit. "Hey Alex, do you think we could clean up the living room?" Iris questioned.

"You're kidding, right?" The other girl shouted back from the kitchen.

"It won't take that long."

"Yeah it will! It's twice as bad as my side of the room. Besides, I hate cleaning."

"If we work together it'll go by quickly." A familiar old car pulled up into the driveway. "And it won't be just the two of us."

"Wait, what?"

Iris only giggled.

…..

When Justin came home from work that day, the last thing he expected to do was clean up the house. He rarely ever gave attention to such matters. As a result, he allowed the house fall to a dingy state. While he enjoyed cleaning as much as his daughter did, he agreed that Iris had a point, and something should be done about the mess. It was tedious work, but the problem would only get worse if ignored.

At the moment, Justin and Iris were sorting through boxes and piles of old things while Alex took anything technology related to the basement. Iris removed what looked like an old game system off a cardboard box, and placed it with the other electronics. There was writing on the system, but most of it had faded. Only a 'P' remained, but Iris decided it didn't really matter, and moved on to the cardboard box. What was in the box was a mystery to the Reploid, but he guess would be broken mp3 players, or hand held gaming devices. She pulled back the flaps, and blinked.

What was really in there caught her by surprise. Inside were old photo albums, dusty framed pictures, and smaller jewelry boxes. Carefully, Iris picked up a picture frame on the surface, and blew off the dust. A pair of striking green eyes met her own. A woman stared back at Iris. The woman was young with reddish brown hair, fair skin, and a smile. But those eyes got her attention the most. She had seen those eyes before.

They were the same as Alex's eyes.

"Justin… who is this?" Iris question, slightly unsure if this was something to bring up to him. The photo was hidden away for a reason, but she still found herself curious.

He turned her attention to the Reploid, and his eyes fell on the picture she held up. "Her name was Ashlynn." He answered. "She was my wife, and Alex's mother."

"Oh… what happened to her?" Iris bit down on her lip. She really shouldn't have asked that question. An old pain sprung up in Justin's eyes. A pain she dug up.

"She died."

"I- I'm so sorry." Iris said with a sympathetic voice. She didn't dare ask how Ashlynn died. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose someone. Alex never mentioned her mother, so she must have died when the girl was still too young to remember.

Justin didn't reply. He just looked away from the picture. He wasn't the type of man to openly display his feelings. But he did show the pain for that brief moment, Iris saw it. Iris watched him with concern for a moment, and then rose up to her feet. She walked over to the man, and placed her hand on his shoulder. At this moment, Iris found herself at a loss for words. What do you say to someone who lost the love of their life? What Justin lost was irreplaceable. The was not a thing that could heal that kind of pain.

Justin placed his hand over hers, but still looked away. "Can you… just put that back away for me?"

"Of course." Iris gave a nod, and walked back to the dusty box. She looked at the photo one last time, and sighed. The Heaps seemed like a plucky little family, but behind the mask was so much pain. Alex had her blood disease, and Justin lost his wife. Iris wanted to help them just like they had helped her, but what could she do? Their problems couldn't be fixed with some new parts of chips. Perhaps there was something she could do for them, but at the moment it was a mystery to her. Iris set the picture back into the box as gently as she could, and closed the box.

For now, the subject of Ashlynn would have to remain untouched. Iris hoped that one day Justin would be willing to talk about it with her. Talking about his deceased wife might help him heal.

…..

It was eleven thirty at night when the task was finally finished. The three now sat at the kitchen table, slumped in their chairs. Cleaning up the Heap household had been a more tiring job that Iris had originally imagined. All three of them felt quite exhausted, but especially Justin. He had been working the first half of the day, after all. If it wasn't for the pains of hunger that gnawed at his stomach, he would have retired to his room for the night.

He finally forced himself to stand back up, and walk over to the refrigerator. "I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's hungry." He pulled open the door, and peered inside. It must have been a long time since he went shopping, for there was hardly anything left inside. However, there were a few things left. "How about sandwiches? Those are quick." He looked back to the two girls, expecting them to nod in approval.

What he wasn't expecting was for his daughter to start laughing, and Iris to turn a little green.

…..

**Authors notes**

Sorry this chapter took so long. I hit a few blocks while writing this. I rewrote some scenes, but I'm still not totally happy with it.

I know this is starting off kind of slow, but I think it's important to build up a believable relationship between Iris and the Heaps. Bear with me guys, it'll be important later.

The next chapter will probably be another friendship building one, but I swear things will pick up soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Iris liked having long hair. Her long dark brown locks were quite pretty when taken care of properly. However, her hair always found a way to be a problem when she needed to get something done. Her attempts at tying it back were all in vein. Little pieces of hair always escaped any pony tail holder she used. It was such a bother at times.

This was one such time.

Out of curiosity, Iris had asked Alex to show her what she was working on. Her human friend was more than happy to oblige. This week's project was an old video game system. "With any luck, we'll be able to give this a test run by tomorrow." Grinned the girl as she worked. Iris sat across from Alex, and watched. The system wasn't a large project, so the Reploid had to lean forward to get a good look. Unfortunately, her hair slipped out of place, and fell right over the system. "I can't work through your hair, Iris." Alex said, now looking at her friend.

"Sorry." Iris quickly brushed her hair out of the way.

"Seems to never stay in place, does it?"

"You noticed?"

"That, and I used to wear my hair long. Mine's wasn't as long as yours is, but it still got in the way all the time." Alex said with a nod. "You could cut it."

"I'd rather not." Iris said as she held her hair. Alex let out a small laugh at how protective Iris became over her hair.

"Alright, if that's what you want, but it still gets in the way." She thought for a moment. If Iris didn't want to cut her hair, there had to be another way to keep it from getting all over the place. Alex smiled as an idea came to her. "Wait here." She said as she set the game system aside. As interested as she was in her new project, it could wait.

"Why?" Iris said as the human girl got up to fetch a hairbrush.

"I'm going to braid your hair." Alex sat back down behind Iris, and took out the low ponytail. Perhaps Iris's choice of style was to blame. For some reason Alex didn't understand, the Reploid liked to wear her ponytail at the midpoint of her hair. She had to admit, it was a cute style, but not very functional. With the holder out of the way, Alex began to brush the dark locks to remove any tangles, which there weren't many of. Iris took very good care of her hair.

"Where did you learn how to braid hair?" Iris asked out of curiosity. As far as she could tell, Alex didn't have very many friends. Her condition limited the activates that most humans were able to enjoy.

"My dad."

"He knows how to braid hair?" Iris looked back at her friend with surprise in her eyes. She wouldn't have guessed that Justin would know how to braid hair. Seemed a little too feminine for him.

"Yup. He used to braid my hair when I was little. He said that if he didn't, I would look like a wild beast by the end of the day." Alex said with a laugh. "I think he learned how because of my mom, but I'm not sure. He doesn't talk about her much."

"Oh…" There was a silent moment as Alex continued to weave the Reploid's long hair. Eventually, Iris broke the silence. "Do you ever miss her?"

"Sometimes, but… I never got the chance to get to know her, you know? It feels weird to miss someone I never knew, but I still do. I don't even remember what she looked like." Alex fell quiet for a moment, but soon spoke up with a question of her own. "How about you? Do you ever wonder what you're life was like?"

"Wondering about it won't bring back any of my memories." Iris answered. "But, I can't help it sometimes."

"Hmm." Alex bit her lip for a moment, and thought. "Well, dad and I did save your old memory chip."

"You did?" Iris looked back at her with surprise. "But, Justin said it was too damaged to get any data from it." She knew full well how badly damaged her systems had been. They were lucky to get her basic personality from the remains, but she always thought the memory chip was a lost cause.

"It was too damaged for the two of us to get anything from it, but maybe if we had help and better equipment, we could salvage something. Hold this." Alex passed the long, half braided locks to the Reploid, and once again rose up to her feet. She walked over to the semi cluttered desk (Iris still pushed her to keep things organized, but old habits died hard), and opened up a drawer. "Dad thought it was too damaged to save it, but I asked him to let me keep it." She pulled out a small, blackened chip from the drawer, and held it up for Iris to see.

"Why did you want to keep it?" Iris questioned, her eyes now on her old memory chip.

"Well… I thought you would want to hang onto it. If we ever got a chance to get some data from it, wouldn't you want to?"

"Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"What if I don't like what I see?" Iris's eyes now dropped to the floor. "How I… died… doesn't happen naturally. I don't know what happened to me, but I don't want to relive it."

"I know, but there had to have been good things in your old life, too. Things like old friends, or family." Iris began to look back to the chip. Alex took it as a sign that her mind was changing. "Maybe even a boyfriend." She added with a slight smirk.

"A- a what?" A light blush spread across Iris's pale skin. "No way! I couldn't have had a boyfriend. That's as likely as me being a Maverick Overlord!"

"Pfffha! You, a Maverick? Never!" Alex laughed at the idea. "It'd be like 'Look out for Iris, or she'll get you with her butterflies of doom!'"

"Don't forget the flower petals of destruction." Iris added in, now laughing along with her human friend. She was glad for the subject change. While Alex had a point about the good people she might have had in her former life, she doubted one of them was a boyfriend.

"Anyways, if we do get a chance to get a few of your memories back, do you want to?" Alex asked once she had caught her breath.

"…Alright." Iris answered after a moment.

"Don't worry, if I can, I'll view the memory first before I give it to. That way, I can give you a heads up."

"Thank you." Iris smiled at Alex.

"No problem. Now then, back to the task at hand." Alex took back the braid from Iris's hand, and continued where she had left off. When she finished, she tied it off with Iris's usual pony tail holder, and looked at her work. It was a little loose at the top, but it seemed fitting. "There, all done."

Iris stood, and walked over to the mirror. She turned half around to get a better look at her braided hair, and smiled. "I like it. Maybe I'll wear it like this more often."

…..

**Authors Notes**

Once again, this took forever to get out. Sorry about that guys, but the end of the school year was insane. I had a lot of projects to get done, but I'm out for summer. So, I should get more chapters out.


	6. Chapter 6

One thing Iris quickly learned about her care takers was their resourceful nature. Eight times out of ten, they would prefer to restore something old rather than buy new. It was this trait that lead them to the female Reploid in the first place, and it was a trait that Iris herself picked up on. If a piece of clothing tore, she would sew a patch on it. If a glass broke, she would glue the pieces back together. Anything can be fixed- Alex's motto had rubbed off on Iris.

However, there were times when the Heap family needed to by new. Most of these occurrences were linked with Justin's work. He was fully capable of fixing just about every problem his costumers came to him with, he did need new parts for them every now and then. This was a problem. Between being a single father and working, Justin was a very busy man. It would take him weeks, sometimes months, before he could get the right parts. Alex had offered to pick up the parts for him in the past, but he always rejected the idea. He didn't want her to go to the city on her own. Muggings, kidnappings, Maverick attacks, and other terrible things could happen to a young girl on her own in the big city.

Of course, now she wouldn't be by herself.

"Iris and I will go together." Alex pointed out with pleading look on her features.

"Alex, you've never been to the city by yourself, and Iris hasn't been to the city at _all_." Justin's arms were crossed, and he had his serious-father-business face on. Uh oh. If she didn't come up with something soon, then the argument would end with an 'Absolutely not'. Again.

"Exactly! It's been five months and Iris still hasn't seen the city for herself. We can't keep her cooped up forever, right Iris?" Alex now looked back to her Reploid friend, who had been quiet up till now.

"Actually, I would like to see the city for myself. If that's alright." Iris gave a soft smile. "I promise that if anything goes wrong, we'll call you, Justin."

"You both really want to go?" He gave a sigh. The Reploid had been living with them for five months now, and she had proven herself to be trustworthy in that time. "Alright, but call me when you get there, and when your heading back. I'll write out the directions."

Alex let out a 'yessss' while Iris smiled with delight.

…..

The two girls took an above ground train into the city. Iris and Alex both found themselves staring out the window as the back drop drastically changed from an old, cluttered suburban area to a bright, shiny city. Sunlight reflected off the glass walls of the skyscrapers like a glittering jewel. All of the buildings were so new and tall. Iris couldn't help but to stare with wonder. The city was beautiful. Why on earth did Justin think this place could be bad?

"Is the whole city like this?" Iris asked as the train pulled into the station.

"Pretty much." Alex grinned. "Come on, this is our stop." The human girl rose out of her seat, and Iris followed.

The station was a very crowded place. Many a human and Reploid were rushing to make their trains, some of them pushed, but Iris observed that all of the pushers were humans.

It was so strange to see so many Reploids in one place. There weren't really any Reploids in their neighborhood. Actually, it was pretty exciting to see so many of her kind in the city. Their designs seemed so different from hers. These Reploids were so sleek and slim. Her design seemed almost bulky, and less human like by comparison. Iris had force herself to look away to avoid staring.

She and Alex carefully maneuvered their way through the crowd, and ended up on the side walk. The human girl pulled out the directions from her pocket, and looked them over. "Hmm… Okay, we take a left here, and walk for four blocks, then we go right." Alex said while she pointed in to the left. Iris nodded, and followed.

Up close, the city was as vibrant as it was pretty. While it was far passed rush hour, the streets were still crowded with pedestrians. On each side of the two females were high end retail stores for both human and Reploid. Iris looked at the window displays curiously as the walked passed. She was more than happy with what the Heaps provided her with, but it didn't hurt to look. Besides, she caught Alex looking on more than one occasion as well.

"After we get the parts for dad, we should just hang around for a bit." Alex suggested.

"Sure, sounds like fun." Iris smiled. So far, she really liked the city.

At least, she liked this part of the city. Their destination drew them further away from the lively down town area to the east side. There weren't as many people around, and the ones that were didn't look to friendly. Iris really didn't like some of the stares they received.

"Alex… why are they looking at us like that?" The question made Iris feel uncomfortable, but she wanted to know.

The human girl bit her lip for a moment. "Well… crap, how do I say this? The relationship between humans and Reploids hasn't been in good shape for a while, and the last major Mavrick tore open some old wounds."

"What happened?"

"Long story short, a new generation Reploid went Maverick."

"Just one?"

"He was kind of important. He was working on this space project with humans. Working on the project together was supposed to help heal the relationship between humans and Reploids, but it all went down hill after he went Maverick. All of the new generation Reploids were destroyed after that, and things have been pretty frosty ever since."

"That's… that's horrible." Iris's gaze fell down to her feet. She had no idea how bad things between humans and Reploids really were. The Heaps always treated her like one of the family. She just assumed everyone was like that. Apparently not.

"Hey, lets not talk about this now. Let's just have fun today, okay?" Alex said with a hint of a smile on her face.

Iris looked back up to her friend. At the moment, she decided it really didn't matter how the world wide relationship between humans and Reploids was. All that mattered was how the people closest to her viewed her kind. "Sure." She smiled back.

The two girls continued down the sidewalk, both they and the other pedestrians unaware of what hid in the shadows till it was too late.

…..

Zero did not like paper work. That was no secret in Maverick Hunters Headquarters. The crimson Hunter much preferred to be out on the battle field than hunched over a computer screen any day of the week. Too bad he didn't have a choice in the matter. Signas required each one of his Hunters to type up a report after a mission.

There really wasn't much to report on, though. Ever since the last incident involving Sigma an Lumine, things had been very quiet. It reminded Zero of the old days, before the Maverick wars, back when this job was more like police work than a military branch. The Mavericks no longer had a leader to guide them. X hoped this meant there could finally be piece between humans and Reploids, but Zero… he really did want X to be right about this. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that this was the calm before another storm. Perhaps the warrior in him just wasn't ready for a peaceful life.

Zero let out a sigh, and stared at the screen. There was a whole, whopping the sentences written. Great. Just five hundred more to go.

"Hey." He heard a familiar, friendly voice behind him. Zero turned in his chair, and gave a slight grin.

"Hey X. Don't you have a report to write up to?"

"Yeah, but I finished. Why, are you still working on yours?" X peered over his best friend's shoulder to find that, indeed, Zero was still working on his report. The blue Hunter couldn't help but to chuckle softly. This earned him a glare from the blonde. "Hey, calm down. At least you'll beat Axl."

"Heh, true." The only Hunter who hated paper work more than Zero was Axl. The younger of the three had 'forgotten' about it on more than one occasion. The fourth time he 'forgot' earned him a three day suspension. "How is he doing?"

"Okay, I think. I don't think he remembers a lot about the fight with Luminee." X's face turned into a frown. While it had only been his crystal that was smashed, Axl had been more damaged than they had originally thought. He was out of commission for over a week, and when he came back he seemed… different. It was hard to finger on it, but he wasn't completely himself.

"Think we try talking to him again?" Zero questioned.

"Yeah. I think there's something he's not telling us."

The document on the screen suddenly vanished, and a 'ping' noise rang out in the room. Zero turned back to the screen just as Layer's face appeared.

"Zero, there's an incident in the east district."

"How bad?"

"Three Mavericks, and civilians are in the area."

"I'm on it." Zero rose up from his seat, and turned away.

"And Zero." Layer began. He turned back to her. "Be careful." He gave a nod, and headed to the door.

"Want any help?" X offered.

"Nah, I got it."

…..

It all happened so quickly.

One minute there was calm, the next screaming.

Iris's ears were still ringing from the explosion. The Reploid pushed herself off the street.

"_Wait, what am I doing on the street?"_

Fuzzy memories came back to her like rushing water. She on the sidewalk. Alex was there too. There were some other people, then an explosion.

Where was Alex?

Iris looked around her. There were other people trying to regain their bearings, but no sign of her human friend. "Alex?" Iris called out. When she received no answer, she shouted her name again. Fear began to pool in her gut. What if she was hurt, or unconscious? Or what if she was… no, Iris didn't want to think about that.

Her eyes finally fell on a small, female figure on the ground. She had short, light brown hair. Without hesitation, Iris ran over to the girl.

"Alex?" Iris rolled her over on her back as carefully as she could. Her face was dirty, there was a very bloody cut on her forehead, her face was dirty, and her knee caps bled; however, she didn't have any serious injuries. A pair of green eyes finally opened, and the fourteen year old let out a moan.

"Okay… that hurt." Iris smiled slightly in response, taking her remark as a sign that she was alright.

"Can you get up?"

"Yeah, I think." As Alex began to sit up, Iris moved to help her injured friend stand. "Any idea what ha-"

"Well, well, well- What do we have here?" A manic voice bellowed out at the two girls. Before them stood a tall, cobalt blue Reploid. He was large in size, easily dwarfing the two girls. The saw blades on his arms shrieked like a banshee. A deranged grin practically consumed his face. Everything about him screamed Maverick. "A Repliod helping a human? Ha! She isn't worth your time, babe." Behind him stood two other Mavericks- one yellow, the other green. The yellow one tossed and bomb up and down in his hand.

"Why did you do this?" Iris's voice was barely above a whisper. Never had she seen such destruction before. They were surrounded by the bodies of the less fortunate. The remaining survivors ran in terror- only for the green Maverick to chase after them. Their dying screams chilled her to the core.

"Why? Were continuing the work of the great Sigma! He dreamed of a work without humans. And you know what? So do we! Humans treat us like second class citizens!" Their apparent leader shouted. "So why don't you just drop _it_." He pointed at Alex. "And I'll let you go. There's no point in hurting a Reploid."

His manic grin suddenly turned into a smug smirk. As if his words could so easily change her mind. The very thought of it made Iris sick.

"No."

"Why not?" He was no longer smirking. His expression was eerily deadpan.

"She's my friend! I would never leave her behind." Iris stated firmly. "There's nothing you can do to change my mind."

"Is that so?" The Maverick let out a sigh. "Such a waste." He slowly raised up his left arm, and without warning, launched the saw blade in their direction.

Iris only had seconds to dodge the deadly attack. She dropped to the floor, bringing Alex with her. The saw blade ended up striking in a nearby car instead, destroying the back window and getting stuck in the seats. It's teeth viciously gnawed at the fabric, slicing through it like butter.

The female Reploid stood up again with Alex. Iris mentally prepared herself for another hasty doge, but the Maverick was no longer in front of them. "Where did he go?" Iris thought out loud. The yellow Maverick was still there, but he wasn't interested in attacking the helpless girls. Instead, he just watched them with amusement. He knew they weren't his to kill.

After a very short second, Iris decided she didn't want to know where he went. This was their chance to get away. She grabbed Alex's wrist, and made a break for it. She heard the human girl panting behind her. Her blood condition prevented her from doing strenuous physical activities, and right now it was biting her in the butt real hard. Even a short sprint like this left her out of breath. Iris pulled on her wrist harder. They didn't have a moment to spare. "Just keep going a little further. We can make it. We can-"

She was cut off by a saw blade. It embedded itself in a wall, only inches away from Iris's face. Her whole body froze.

"You really didn't think you'd get away _that_ easily, did you, babe?" An all too familiar, manic voice fell onto her ears. She turned her head. Sure enough, there he was. The blue Mavrick had been toying with them. He wanted them to think they could escape, just so he could crush whatever hope they might have. He had recovered his other saw blade while their backs were turned. Sneaky bastard. Once again, he aimed his saw blade at the two. "Oh, and don't even try ducking again. No point in putting it off."

With no options left, Iris decided to use her body as a shield to protect her weaker friend. She turned to hid Alex, and left her back facing the blue Maverick. He scoffed. "Time to die, human lover!"

Iris shut her eyes tight, and waited for the saw blade to be launched into her back. But it never came. A cry rang out in the air. Iris opened her eyes, and peeked over her shoulder.

On the ruined street lay their attacker. His body was cleanly cut into two halves. "How… who did..?" She looked up, and saw their savior.

Bright red armor, and long blonde hair. Those features stood out the strongest. She didn't get a good enough look at him before he walked towards the yellow Maverick, who was absolutely livid.

"You bastard, you killed him!" He no longer tossed his bombs in the air playfully. "By the time I'm done with you, they won't be able to identify your body!" The Mavrick growled, and chucked his now lit bombs at the Hunter, one right after another.

The never touched him. The red Reploid dashed out of the way, and ended up on the left side of the yellow Maverick. With the saber in his hands, he swung out the blade, and sliced him in two. Just like his college, he fell to the floor in pieces.

"Two down, one to go." He spoke just as the green Maverick reentered the scene. Iris noticed with no small amount of horror that this claw like weapons were covered with blood.

"What the hell is this?" The Maverick gestured to his dead companions. He looked up to the red Hunter, and snarled. "You did this, didn't you? You're in for it not punk!"

He dashed towards the Hunter, claws at the ready. The green Maverick slashed downwards at the Hunter, but he blocked the attack with his saber. They stayed like that for a moment, both locked in a battle of strength, one trying to overpower the other. It was the green Maverick who broke the lock when he attempted the slash at the Hunter with his free hand. The Hunter jumped out of the way, and into the air. He held his saber high, and came crashing down on the Maverick. The green Maverick was impaled by the saber.

The Hunter had taken them all down with one well placed blow.

"Hmph, hardly even work my time." He muttered to himself. "This is Zero. The situation has been neutralized. There's some collateral damage, and some casualties. Send ambulances for the survivors."

He turned their attention back to them. Iris felt her heart skip a beat, or the Reploid equivalent of a heart. He was quite the handsome one. He had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Those blue eyes carried a sternness to them as he walked towards the two.

"Are either of you two hur…"

He trailed off.

Suddenly his eyes didn't look so serious.

"I-Iris…?"

…..

**Authors notes!**

Oh. My. God. I am so sorry this too so long to get out! I wrote an extra long chapter to make up for it! I swear I'll get back on the ball! I'm oddly a better writer when school is in session than in the summer.

Special thanks to Sunnychance for helping me out with some writers block!


	7. Chapter 7

It had been years.

She was gone, yet, there she was.

There were a few things different. The braid was new, and her hat was gone. Her body armor looked just a bit different. But this was _her_.

Iris.

Zero had battled maverick after maverick. He threw himself into deadly situations all the time. He was fearless in the face of death. Yet, just the sight of her left him standing still, unable to move. All he could do was stare. Apart voice in his mind whispered to him that this was impossible. Iris was gone. She was on the final weapon when it blew up. This was impossible. Another voice kindly flipped the other the bird, and said to just shut up. But there was one thing they could both agree on.

_"Apologize."_

Right. He needed to apologize. For fighting her brother, for not listening to her, for everything. But no words came to him. What could he possibly say? There was no apology good enough for what he had done. But still, he wanted to beg her for the forgiveness he didn't deserve. He wanted to make things right- to make everything up to her. Somehow.

Iris stared right back at him. Those large, round aqua eyes blinked. She stared at him with confusion.

"Iris…"

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?"

That little sentence was enough to bring reality crashing down on him.

"What..?"

Neither of them had a chance to say anything else. Cries for help from survivors soon called their attention.

…..

The ambulances arrived quickly. Iris was thankful for that. She feared that a substantial number of humans would have died without swift medical attention. She, Alex, and the red Hunter did their best, but they weren't doctors. That green maverick… he just slashed so many. One woman would probably lose her leg. It was horrific. There was so much blood… Iris wished she would never have to see anything like this again.

But, apart of her was still grateful. She and Alex would both be okay. Of course, Alex would still be taken to see a doctor. While her injuries had been minor, they still bleed heavily. Her blood didn't clot properly. She looked like she just walked off the set of a horror film. At the moment, the human girl lay upon the stretcher. Both Reploid and human paramedics carted her away with the other injured.

"Don't worry, I'll call Justin and let him know what happened." Iris walked beside them.

"Oh man, he's not gonna be happy about this." Alex frowned. Iris frowned. No doubt, Justin would be very upset about this. It wasn't there fault, but he tended to be very protective of his daughter, and now Iris, too. She had the feeling that this would be their only city adventure for a long time. They loaded her in the ambulance. Iris moved to follow, but was stopped.

"Sorry Miss, but we can't take you with us."

"Why not?"

"Only a parent or guardian can accompany a child."

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" Alex sat up in protest, but was pushed back down.

"Can't you make an exception?" Iris pleaded. She didn't know where the hospital was. How was she going to get there on her own?

"I'm really sorry Miss, but we have to get going." And with that, the doors were shut, and the ambulance drove away.

Iris was left behind. The scene was less chaotic than it had been. The severely injured were taken first, and those with minor injuries, like Alex were being taken in. The media began to flood the scene. There were cameras and news reporters everywhere.

The red Hunter was still there. He stood several feet away from her. His gaze was fixed on the ground. He seemed to be thinking about something. Iris couldn't help but to wonder what was on his mind. He had said her name. He knew her. Despite all of the confusion and mayhem of today, that was one thing she was certain of. Then, he looked up at her as if he could sense her eyes on him. It occurred to her that she had been staring at him, so she quickly looked away. She felt a pink blush creep on her face. Talk about embarrassing.

But why should she be embarrassed? He knew something about her. He had to! How else would be know her name? Iris knew she ought to just walk right up to him, and get some answers. But she couldn't move. She knew his eyes were no longer on the ground, but on her. That gaze had cast a spell that left her frozen in place. His attention only made her blush deepen.

"And here we have a witness to this horrific most recent tragedy." A loud voice broke her thoughts. There was a reporter suddenly at her side, and a camera in her face. She blinked. _"What..? When did-"_

"How does it feel to know that there are still rouge Mavericks out there?"

Iris was taken aback by the question. "Um, I-"

"Do you think that being a Reploid affects your opinion at all?" Before she could even answer the first question, another was thrown in her face.

"W-what?"

"Do you think they didn't hurt you because you're a Reploid?"

"That had nothing to do with it! They were going t-"

"Do you think this will affect the relationship between humans and Reploids?"

More and more reporters surrounded her by the second. The sudden realization that she was the only one left to interview suddenly stuck her like a bolt of lightning. She took three steps away, but they only advanced further. Their microphones and cameras were all marked with single digit numbers. Like a rabbit caught by a pack of wolves she was surrounded.

Then there was a hand on her shoulder, and she was guided away from the crowd. "No comment."

"Oh, Maverick Hunter Zero! Can we just ask you a few questions."

"Sorry, but I don't do interviews."

There was an uproar of disappointment behind them, but they were ignored. Soon all noise faded away behind them. Relief flooded through Iris. She didn't know how much more she could take. Once they were a distance away from the crowd of reporters and their cameras, she turned to the other Reploid.

Just as she thought, it was the red Hunter. The one the reporters called Zero.

"Thanks. I didn't know how I was going to get out of there." She smiled in gratitude.

"I couldn't leave you to the sharks." He said with a slight shrug.

"No, really. Thank you for saving me not just once, but twice. If you hadn't shown up when you did, then I wouldn't be standing here."

He looked away from her. Iris leaned to the side ever so slightly to get a look at his face. He looked… well, she really couldn't exactly pinpoint that expression on his face. But he looked upset. _"Was it something I said?" _An uneasy silence passed between them. He kept his eyes focused on the ground, once again lost in thought.

"Your name is Zero, right?" That got his attention. Those blue eyes of his had widened slightly.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But how did you know that?" He sounded almost hopeful.

"I heard one of the reporters call you that."

"Oh." Poof, the hint of hope in his eyes vanished.

He knew something about her. He had to. For the first time ever Iris had a real chance to learn who she once was. A chance to know her past. She wanted to- no, she needed to know. But she hesitated. Apart of her was still afraid to know the truth. But what if this was her only chance? What if she never saw him again after this?

"Hey, do you need a ride?"

"Huh?" She blinked.

"That girl you were with was taken to the hospital. Do you need a ride there?"

"Oh! Sure, that would be great!" Iris had forgotten about Alex, and she still needed to give Justin a call.

"Follow me. My Ride Chaser isn't far from here." Iris nodded, and followed only a few steps behind Zero.

Iris had never seen a Ride Chaser in person, but she'd seen pictures of them in magazines. Alex used to point them out and go on about how awesome it would be to ride one of them. Iris was much more iffy on the matter. They looked difficult to drive, and there was always the risk of falling off. Even with Alex's reassurance that she would repair her, Iris still didn't want to get on a Ride Chaser.

Now here she was, with a Ride Chaser as her best option. Zero boarded the Ride Chaser with no hesitation. However, Iris stood there for a moment, and naturally this didn't go unnoticed. "Something wrong?" Zero asked. There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"Oh, it's just I've never been on a Ride Chaser before."

For some reason, he didn't look too surprised by her answer. "Relax, I've been riding this thing for years. We won't crash."

This put her mind at ease, sort of. There was still the issue of falling off the Chaser at speeds of eighty miles per hour. That mental image wasn't a pretty picture. Of course, there was a simple way to prevent that scenario.

Iris climbed onto the Ride Chaser behind Zero, and slid her arms around his waist. She was glad he couldn't see her face right now, because it was cherry red. She had never been this close to anyone, ever. The tickle of his long blond hair against her cheek didn't help the matter either.

"Hang on." And with that, they were off. Iris tightened her grip on him as the sped up. They out onto the city's many highways, and Iris found herself staring at the city's beauty again. So clean cut and shinning. It was hard to believe that something so horrific as what she had just witnessed. She closed her blue-green eyes, and tried not to think about how many people had just lost their lives.

Neither of them spoke a word. It was yet another silence that passed between them. It was broken when Zero informed her that they had arrived. She opened her eyes as they pulled to a stop, and soon slid off the Ride Chaser pleased that they had arrived in one piece. He followed suit, and both of them stood in the hospital parking lot.

"Thank you, again." She smiled.

"No problem." Zero nodded.

"I hope visiting hours aren't up yet." She murmured, and turned to head towards the front doors, but hesitated. Iris looked back at him. "Are you coming?"

"No, I can't. I have to report back to base."

"I see." Iris nodded. She understood. However, once he left she feared she might never see him again, and her chance to know her past. "Zero?"

"Yeah?"

"There are some questions I want you ask you. About how you knew my name." He was silent. "But I can't ask you right now. I have to make sure my friend is ok, and you have to go. So would it be possible for me to contact you later?"

He agreed.

…..

_"Am I dreaming this?"_

The thought constantly ran through his mind. From the first he spoke to her, to watching her walk through the hospital doors. Zero was left to wonder if all of that actually happened. Or maybe he had pulled an Axl and fallen asleep on his key board.

But this wasn't a dream, and he knew it. Iris was, somehow, alive. But she wasn't the Iris who had died on the Final Weapon. She didn't remember anything, that much he was certain of. If she had… and now she wants to know. What was he supposed to tell her? How could he tell her? Iris had every right to know about her past.

But would knowing any of it make her happy? Despite the attack she had witnessed, she seemed happy with her life. She had a new life. A life free of the pain the Maverick Hunter war with Repliforce put her through. Zero doubted she even remembered her brother.

Zero drove away on his Ride Chaser, heading for Maverick Hunter HQ. He parked it in it's usual spot, and left the garage. He walked passed X. His friend tried to reach out to him, but he just kept walking.

He sat down in front of that much loathed computer screen again. The report he had been writing earlier that day was still on his screen. He stared at the screen as his mind drifted back to those bright, innocent eyes.

_ "If you hadn't shown up when you did, then I wouldn't be standing here."_

Her words echoed in his mind, and magnified his guilt. She praised him as if he were a hero If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have died at all. If he had listened to her, then maybe the fourth Maverick war wouldn't have gotten out of hand.

Zero removed his helmet, and let it fall to the floor beside him. It's clatter rung out in the room as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He wasn't a hero. He killed her. He killed Iris, and nothing could change that fact.

How the hell was he going to tell her that?

Once again, his computer 'pinged' and Layer's face appeared on his screen.

"Zero?"

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you're alright. You didn't return to base after you completed you mission, and I was worried." The red blush on her cheeks went unnoticed.

"There's no need for you to worry, I'm fine." He didn't look up at the screen.

"…Alright." She paused for a moment. "But if you need to talk, I'm here." Layer vanished from the screen.

Zero was left alone with a faintly glowing screen, and his own thoughts.

…..

**Author's notes!**

I am terrible. I started this like, a week after I posted chapter six, and then it just sat on my computer collecting dust. I think I need to be punched for being so terrible at updating. On the upside, yay! Zero and Iris have met up in this story! Sure it was awkward for everyone involved, but still, yay!

Till next time, guys!


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